Army veteran Johnna K. put her body through many tests during her more than 28 years of military service.
Deployed three times, she had extensive foot injuries and repeatedly endured physical challenges. She also experienced some pain.
“In hindsight, my back started bothering me when I was in uniform, but I mostly ignored it,” says Johnna, 63, of Newville, Pa. “When you’re a soldier, you suck it up and deal with it.”
But after retiring from the service in 2015, Johnna had more time to feel the body aches and pains she’d avoided all those years. Then, while on a trip to France with a friend in 2024, she didn’t feel like her normal self.
“There was a lot of walking, and I was in a lot of pain,” she says. “I was not enjoying my life anymore.”
Later that year, while out on a walk, a new pain suddenly appeared in Johnna’s back. She hoped it would go away, but deep down, she could tell something wasn’t right.
She found herself in the emergency department at UPMC Carlisle, where doctors kept her for a week as they worked to diagnose her condition. After multiple tests and imaging, they determined that a compression in Johnna’s lumbar spine was causing her suffering.
Her doctors sent her for three weeks of inpatient physical therapy and a round of epidural injections to manage the pain. While she found temporary relief, nothing helped her in a sustainable way.
When doctors offered to implant a spinal stimulator device, Johnna felt uneasy. She decided to try other methods.
“When your back hurts, everything hurts,” she says. “And my pain had moved around my body, from my low back to wrapping around my hips and down my legs.”
Johnna tried acupuncture and multiple types of physical therapy, but nothing helped. She started experiencing heavy leg syndrome, a condition that causes weightiness and stiffness in the legs.
Given Johnna’s pain level, her primary care manager at the Veterans Affairs recommended that she see Bryan D. Bolinger, DO, a neurosurgeon and spine specialist at UPMC in Central Pa. She had mentioned him to Johnna before — sharing all the positive stories she’d heard from others who’d worked with him.
This time, Johnna booked the appointment.
Meeting the Right Care Team
In early 2025, Johnna and her husband Steve had their first meeting with Dr. Bolinger.
“From the moment I first met him, we just clicked,” she says. “He was honest and all-business in a way that I knew I had come to the right place.”
Dr. Bolinger didn’t bring up surgery right away. Instead, he got to know Johnna, something she hadn’t experienced with a doctor before.
“He didn’t treat me like a patient — he wanted to know my whole story, all of my symptoms,” she says. “Of course, he looked at my imaging, but he assessed me as a person first. He really took the time to get to know me.”
When Dr. Bolinger brought up the idea of a spinal fusion, Johnna was nervous at first.
“I was very scared,” she says. “I had never considered spine surgery before, never even thought this could happen to me. But I felt safe in his hands; I really trusted him.”
Before scheduling surgery, Dr. Bolinger gave Johnna a list of physical goals to tackle. This would ensure she was in the best shape to recover from the procedure. Then, on July 21, 2025, Johnna received an L3-L4 spinal fusion surgery at Spine Care Center of Central PA-UPMC.
A spinal fusion surgery joins the vertebrae (spinal bones) together using metal rods and screws. This procedure can help stabilize the bones and relieve pressure from compressed areas.
In Johnna’s case, Dr. Bolinger first entered her spine from the side, adding an intraspinal spacer to relieve pressure on her nerves. Then, he made an incision on her back and fused her vertebrae.
Life After Spinal Fusion Surgery
Post-surgery, Johnna spent a few days in the hospital. There, nurses encouraged her to rely on her legs to get up and be mobile. That’s when Johnna realized the heavy leg syndrome was gone.
“Already, two days after surgery, I felt 100% better than before,” Johnna says.
As Johnna went home and recovered on her own, she followed Dr. Bolinger’s instructions to the letter. She completed her at-home physical therapy and limited twisting, bending, and lifting anything over 10 pounds.
“Dr. Bolinger always says, ‘I’m not a back doctor, I’m a spine doctor,’” Johnna says. “And for me, he significantly improved my spine and my life.”
Now, at eight months after surgery, Johnna feels great. She’s still “protecting her surgical investment,” as Dr. Bolinger refers to her recovery.
Johnna is looking forward to the warmer weather so she can go on walks, swim, and play golf with her husband. The twisting motion from that activity in particular would’ve sent pain through her entire body before surgery.
She’s also able to travel on long road trips to visit her stepdaughter and granddaughter in New Jersey and her sister’s family in Vermont. She recently completed a 14-hour road trip to Florida with a friend. She didn’t even have to stop along the way just to get out and stretch.
“We hardly stopped outside of the necessities, and that felt amazing!” she says.
Compassionate Care
Above all, Johnna remembers the compassionate care she received at UPMC as an important factor in her health and healing journey.
“The whole team at the UPMC Spine Center, from the physician assistants to the nurses, they all had a positive impact on me,” she says. “I would recommend Dr. Bolinger and his team to anyone. You don’t want to go see anyone else!”
But what really made a difference for Johnna was finding a doctor who took the time to actively listen to and care for her.
“The bottom line is that Dr. Bolinger made me feel special and was always right there when I needed him,” Johnna says. “He helped me get my life back, and I’m forever grateful.”
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on , and was last reviewed on .